Tool for forming round dowels and rods



E. A. CHERRY. TOOL FOR FORMING ROUND DOWELS AND RODS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.12,I920.

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

c V 4W Q 3.51 who M401 8 I Patented Feb. 1, 1921.

E. A. CHERRY. TOOL FOR roamme ROUND DOWELS AND RODS APPLICATION FiLED FEB. 12, I920- Patnted Feb. 1, 1921.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

Q awumto c, is

@51 a btowe ,residing at Brooklyn, New York,

UNITED PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD A. CHERRY, OF BBQOKLYIU, ITEVJ YGEK, ASSIGN'OR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- Ill/TENTS, TO STANLEY "WORKS, TION 03E CONNECTICUT.

01F E'IEVJ BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORA- Specification. of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 1, 1921.

Application filed February 12, 1920. Serial No. 358,044.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD A. CHERRY, a citizen of the United States of America, ave invented a new and useful Tool for Forming Round Dowels and Rods, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a simple turning machine for fashioning dowels and rods from wood.

The object is to provide a very simple and comparatively inexpensive tool which will enable the user to rapidly produce dowels of various sizes and lengths. The simplicity and economy of the device is such that it is within the reach of an ordinary carpenter or cabinet maker. it is also useful as a bench tool for furniture makers and repairers who have frequent use for dowels of various sizes. With this machine the operator can. cut his dowels from the same wood as the wood with which they are to be used, a feature obviously of reat advantage, particularly in cabinet making and furniture niaking. The device is easily adjusted so as to make the dowels of such size that they will have a tight or loose fit, as desired.

Another object of the invention is to provide a very simple adjustment for the operating handle or crank so that the leverage or power may be varied by lengthening or shortening the throw of said crank. This feature is applicable not only to machines for turning dowels, but to other tools, such as drills, and the like.

in the drawings:

Figure l is side view of my invention on a relatively reduced scale.

Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof.

Fig. 3 is an end view looking from left to right.

Fig. l is a detail view relatively enlarged and partly in section.

Fig. 5 is an end view of a detail.

Fig. 6 is an end view of a modification.

Fig; 7 is a side elevation of the same modification.

l is a frame having a suitable base or standard. This frame is provided with a bearing 2, in which is rotatably mounted one end of a hollow spindle 3. 4 is a bearing for the other end of said hollow spindle. 5 1s a gear wheel fixed on the spindle 3, and 6 15 a larger gear wheel journaled on one side of the bearing 41. This large gear wheel 6 is in mesh with the gear wheel 5 so that when power is applied to the former, the hollow spindle 3 will be rotated in its bean ings. Outside of the bearing 2 and mounted on the adjacent end of the hollow spindle 3 is a rotary cutter-head 7. This rotary cutter-head has a central passage 8 in line with the passage through the spindle. See Fig. 5). 9 is a knife or cutter adjustably mounted with its cutting edge adjacent to the passage 8 and held in position by any suitable holding means such as a screw 10. This cut ter is arranged substantially tangent to the passage 8, but the cutting edge of said cutter is arranged at the mouth of the entrance to said passage so that it will operate toturn down into the form of a round rod an irregularly shaped rod or stick of wood which is moved into the passage as the cutter is revolving, the stick of wood being of course held against rotation. As indicated in Fig. 4:, as the stick is turned down into the form of a round rod, the former end of the rod will travel through the hollow spindle 3 so as to be discharged from t e rear end thereof when completed. Mounted upon the front of the frame 1 is a combined guide and holder 11 for the unfinished stick of wood, said guide being adapted to direct the said stick in the proper direction and to also hold it against turning with the cutter. In the preferred form this guide is in the form of a circular plate (see Fig. 3), having a series of angular holes or passages of varying sizes arranged around the center. The centers of the passages should be equi-distant from the center of the plate. The com ter of each of these holes is arranged on the center line of the hollow spindle 8 and cutter-head 7 and the holes are made square or angular so that a correspondingly shaped stick of wood will beheld against turning while being guided into the cutter. This guide plate 11 is secured to the standard or frame 1 by any suitable means such as a hand screw bolt 12. l Vhen this screw bolt is loosened up, the guide plate may be turned so as to bring the proper opening in front of the cutter-head. Any workman may easily rough out with a saw or other simple tool a rod of approximately square cross section, the diameters of which closely approximate the diameter of the dowel or rod to be formed, thereby avoiding waste. The proper guide passage in the guide plate 11 is then arranged in proper position and the rod is inserted and brought into contact with the cutter. The operator by simultaneously turning the gear wheel 6 and merely pressing on the rod forces the latter through the cutter and hollow spindle and the dowel or round rod is quickly and accurately formed by the revolving knife of a lengthdepending upon the length of the rough rod originally employed. It should be stated that a number of cutters of different sizes may be provided with each machine and an ordinary screw connection 14 (Fi 4) .i ay be provided whereby the desired cutter may be se lected and applied to the end of the hollow spindle.

In Figs. 6 and 7 I have shown a modified form of guide. In this particular instance the guide comprises a t -shaped trough on the upper end of a slide 16, which slide is adjustably mounted up and down on the face of the standard and held in place by the aforesaid screw bolt 12. On the side of the slide 16 is a plate 1? adjustable up and down thereon and held by a thumb screw 18. 19 is an arm projecting laterally from the plate 17 so as to overstand the trough 15. This arm may have a i -shaped slot in the under side to receive the corner of a square rod, the opposite corner resting in the bottom of the channel 15. By adjusting the parts 16 and 17 properly a substantially square or angular rod may be guided properly into the mouth of the cutter, as indicated in the end View, Fig. 6, which illustrates the proper position of adjustment for a rod of one size, the same being indicated in dotted lines.

20 is a crank arm mounted upon the gear 6. This crank has the usual handle 21 at one end while the method of mounting or connecting the other end of the crank to the gear wheel is unique in that by simpiy changing the angular position of the crank on the said gear wheel, the throw or leverage may be varied. This method of mounting comprises forming an annular toothed boss 22 on the face of the gear wheel at one side of the center, and forming a corresponding toothed hub on the inner end of the crank arm 20 so that the complementary teeth will intermesh and lock the parts together when the same are properly held. A. suitable holding means may comprise an ordinary pivot screw bolt 2% passing through the center of the hub and into the center of the aforesaid boss. By tightening up on this screw bolt practically all of the driving strain on the crank is taken by the interengaged teeth aforesaid. By loosening up on the pivot screw bolt 24, the crank ma be turned in such a direction as to bring the handle 21 closer to or farther away from the center of the gear wheel, thereby changing the leverage. For example, in Fig. l the crank arm is shown in solid lines as being adjusted for its longest throw with the handle remote from the center of the wheel 6. In the same view I have indicated. in dotted ines the crank arm 20 adjusted at a different angle so as to bring the handle closer to the center of the gear wheel 6, thereby shortening the throw thereof. This simple expedient and method of connecting the parts is always easily operated, .cannot become rusted to such a degree as to interfere with the easy operation, which cannot be said to be true of handles adjustable for this purpose by a sliding action.

It will be understood that I have shown my various improvements in preferred form only and that T am aware that various modi-- fications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

What I claim is:

1. In a machine for turning round rods and dowels, a frame, a rotatable hollow spindle mounted thereon, a cutter-head mounted on the end of said spindle and having a passage therethrough in line with the passage through the spindle, a cutter-blade adjustably mounted at the entrance to the passage through the head, and a combined guide and holder on said frame in front of said cuttenhead for directing an unshaped rod into the passage through the cutter-head and holding the same against turning while the cuttenhead is revolving, said combined cutter and guide comprising a plate having av plurality of guide passages therethrough of different sizes.

2. in a machine for turning round rods and dowels, a frame, a rotatable hollow spindle mountet thereon, a cutter-head mounted on the end of said spindle and having a passage the'rethrough in line with the passage through the spindle, a cutter-blade adjustably mounted at the entrance to the passage through the head, and a combined guide and holder on said frame in front of said cutter-head for directing an unshaped rod into the passage through the cutter-head and holding the same against turning while the cutter-head is revolving, said guide and holder having a plurality of different sized passages the centers of all of said passages being substantially equiing a plate mounted to be rotated on the distant from the center of the guide and frame in front of the cutter head, a plural- 10 holder. ity of passages of different sizes through 3. In a dowel turning machine, a frame, said plate and arranged substantially an 5 a rotatable hollow spindle, a cutter head equal distance from the center of rotation carried by said spindle and having a passage of the plate.

therethrough in line with the spindle passage, a combined guide and holder compris- EDWVARD A. CHERRY. 

